Forever
by Holy Song
Summary: In the aftermath of Presea's funeral, Zelos finds himself comforting the girl whom he had expected to need it least.


**T**he sky opened up and let loose a torrent of rain, and it seemed as if the world itself was mourning the loss of another hero. There was a gathering around the grave as the body was lowered into the ground, but some were more emotionally torn than others. The service was held in Ozette, and the woman was put to rest in a plot next to her father, whom her friends had helped to bury so many years ago.

She was the last; or rather, she was the last human. There were, among her friends, several with longer lifespans, and all of them had watched in silent mourning as their human friends grew up and left them behind, aging more visibly with every passing year. They watched the humans' colorful hair become dull and gray, noticed the light in their eyes fade with every decade.

And she was the last of them.

The five remaining had been to several funerals. The five remaining had watched their dear friends—hardly older than them when their journey began—lowered into the ground and buried. The five remaining had mourned all of the inevitable losses they'd endured more times than they could remember, and then, the five remaining would comfort each other, mending broken hearts and helping them to heal.

Presea Combatir, at the age of seventy-eight physically and ninety-four in reality, had died peacefully in her sleep under the careful watch of Genis Sage. He had been the one to spread the news and to gather everyone in Ozette for the funeral. Though his infatuation with Presea had long ago died out, the half-elf had continued to have a close relationship with her, and he had been the one to care for her in her later years. For that reason, not even his sister had seen him much in the past ten years. Truly, he had not changed much, and he appeared to be the same young man he had looked like for the last several decades.

In the rain that pounded down on the rebuilt town of Ozette, the five living heroes of regeneration stood, heads bowed, huddled around Presea's grave long after all the other attendees had left. The death of Presea was a sense of finality for them, and they knew it would be centuries before another of them passed. There would be two more, and then, the remaining three would be alone.

"D-do you want to…go inside…?" Genis offered. His usually wild hair was plastered against his face, and it looked much longer than usual because of the water pulling it downward. The rain had drenched his face, and when he reached up to wipe off his face, no one could be sure if he was wiping away the rain or a stream of tears.

Raine shuffled next to her younger brother and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. In the downpour, the two looked almost like twins. They could only be distinguished by the knowledge of their actual ages. "Let's go," Raine mumbled.

The two half-elves appeared to be young, perhaps in their mid-twenties, even though the other three heroes knew better. Though they aged slowly, Genis was in his late seventies, and Raine was even older, almost ninety. They had a long life they had yet to live, but the knowledge that the half-elves, too, would die someday hung over the heads of the three that would have to live without them.

The house in which Presea had lived all her life felt grim and gloomy without the woman's presence. Not one of them had felt such a negative presence from the house in sixty years, when they had met the soulless young girl.

Soaked and dripping, the five sat down around the heavy wooden table that Presea, herself, had made a long time ago. No one said anything, nor did anyone look at another. They merely sat in silence, contemplating the death of their last human friend.

Regal had been the first to go. It had been expected, but it was shocking news to behold. He had been only sixty-three, but the strain from his leadership position at the Lezareno Company had taken a toll on him. It had been, perhaps, the hardest death for them to take in; no one quite wanted to accept that the man who had helped to save the world had died of such natural causes.

Emil and Marta lived full lives, but in the end, they were inevitably cut short by their race. Even though the two had drifted apart from the regeneration group after what had been a decade or so, the original heroes had attended the funerals. When Emil had seen the group at Marta's service, he had broken down, and Lloyd had been the one to comfort him. After they went to Emil's service, Lloyd shut himself off from the world for a while, mourning in solitary.

No one saw Zelos for months after Sheena passed. There had been no word from him, and though the rest of them waited for hours, the angel never came to her funeral. Speculation arose as to where he was, but nothing was certain until he reappeared on Colette's doorstep, his hair a mess and his clothes torn. She had asked no questions and instead took him in immediately. He spent a few weeks there, silent and downcast, and when he left, Colette didn't think him any better than when he had arrived. She never did figure out where he had been in the months after Sheena's death.

Finally, only a few short years after Sheena, Presea's life faded, and the greatly reduced group gathered to commemorate her contributions to reuniting the worlds.

The five were pulled from their silent reveries by a thump on the table and a broken sob.

"Dammit!" Genis yelled, fresh tears spilling freely from his eyes. He stood up from the table forcefully, knocking back the stool he had been sitting on. He spun around and punched the wall, causing the entire house to shake from the strength of the half-elf. "Dammit, why?" Sobs wracked his entire body, preventing him from speaking any further.

Raine was the second to stand from the table, and she rushed over to her brother, quietly comforting him by pulling him into a strong hug. Genis made no moves to stop her, choosing instead to cry hopelessly into his sister's shoulder. The others watched silently as their friend cried into Raine. A few tears slid down the woman's cheeks, as well, but she hid them well from her brother, and the two sat there, the only sound in the room being Genis's sobs.

There was a knock on the door to Zelos's manor, and it echoed throughout the house, waking the former Chosen. Begrudgingly, the man pulled himself out of bed and stumbled down the grand staircase and toward the front door. He was used to waiting on himself after all these years without servants, since he had dismissed all of them after Sebastian had died, but he was hardly accustomed to being woken up in the middle of the night.

When he swung open the door, ready to chew out whoever had decided to come to his house this late, he stopped dead in his tracks.

It had only been a few years since the roles had been reversed, with Zelos standing on the doorstep of the blonde, shivering and beaten up. As he looked Colette over, he noted that she looked a lot less disheveled than he had after Sheena's death, but he saw the tears in her eyes and knew that she needed him, and so he ushered her into his house without a second thought, pulling her into a tight hug.

"It's okay…" he soothed, running his fingers through her hair as her silent weeping turned into a more violent sob.

Zelos could tell she was trying to calm down, and so he silently led her to a large sofa in his living room. When she sat down, he sat next to her and draped his arm over her. There were no remnants of perversion in his actions, no reminders of the mask on which he had long ago foregone his dependence. It was a mere friendly gesture, comforting and soothing, and the blonde nestled into his arms, taking whatever he gave.

"Zelos…" The man looked down at Colette, wondering if she had actually spoken or if he was just imagining it. She looked up at him, and though he saw no tears, he noticed all too well the redness of her face and the watery look of her eyes. "Zelos, why…?"

She didn't need to say anything else; he knew exactly what she was saying. It had been the same thing he thought every morning since Regal died.

He looked into Colette's clear blue eyes and ran a lone finger through her perfect blonde hair. She would be eighty-two, he guessed, but the two of them had stopped counting birthdays long ago. Neither he nor Colette bore any symbols of age; there were no crow's feet or laugh lines, no dullness to their features, no indication that either of the Chosen had grown up with their friends. Even Genis, the youngest of their friends, had surpassed them in appearance, and the two of them had been left behind.

Only Lloyd was similar in their condition, the last of the angels in the world. But Lloyd had always been strong-willed and determined. He had taken the life he was given and journeyed to help everyone who needed help. He used his exsphere to right the wrong in the world, and so far, no one had heard him complaining about immortality.

Lloyd was a special breed of person, and everyone agreed with that.

Others weren't so lucky to have the will that Lloyd had.

But Colette was speaking again, which drew Zelos from his grim reverie.

"W-we…" she paused, breathing deeply. "We could just…take them off, couldn't we…?"

It was an idea that both of them had thought of on numerous occasions. They had talked about removing the Cruxis Crystal, removing the parasite which kept them alive and ageless, exactly once before, when Zelos spent his time mourning at Colette's home. Then, they had agreed that everyone else needed them for support.

"We can always take them off," Zelos reminded her. "Although…what would happen?"

Colette looked up at him, and her face took on a characteristically confused expression. Zelos was reminded that it fit the girl so much better than the tears which she had been spilling for so long. "What do you mean?"

"Has anyone ever removed a Cruxis Crystal before?" he mused. "Do you think we would just pick up where we left off…or would all of it just…catch up to us…?"

There was a short silence, and then Colette's quiet voice broke it. "You're scared." She looked away from the man, opting instead to stare at a vase of wilted flowers that sat on a dusty piano.

Zelos didn't need to agree. The answer hung plainly in the air between them, but he spoke anyway. "Who wouldn't be?"

There was an uncomfortable pause, and then Colette said, "I'm scared, too."

Zelos looked down at her. She was still staring at the flowers, and her expression was blank. There was no indication that she had said anything, and after a few more minutes of silence, Zelos began to wonder if she had said anything at all.

"I'm…afraid…for when everyone else is gone." Colette's voice began to waver, and Zelos instinctively began to rub her shoulder, trying to comfort his friend. "I'm scared that Genis and Raine will leave us, too, and then we'll be all alone."

"We have Lloyd," Zelos reminded her.

"And that's all we'll have. Do you think…it's worth it? To be afraid?" Colette finally broke her gaze at the vase and looked at him, her tearful eyes staring pleadingly into his.

"But what happens when Genis and Raine are gone? When Lloyd's left alone?" Zelos asked, looking away from her, as he if couldn't stand her piercing gaze any longer.

"Lloyd…" Colette muttered. "What would be do…?"

Zelos didn't respond to her, and instead said, "Come with me." He stood abruptly from the sofa and whirled around to face her, holding out his hand for her to take. Colette's face scrunched up in confusion, but she did what he said and got up from the sofa, as well.

"There's…one other reason I don't want to take it off," Zelos explained vaguely, leading Colette toward the front door. He looked behind him and smirked at Colette, and her eyes lit up in understanding. Though she still had tears in her eyes, she smiled softly at him.

Zelos threw open the door and led Colette outside into the cool nighttime air. He closed his eyes and concentrated, and soon the area around him was lit up with a soft orange glow. He opened his eyes to find that the orange of his wings were mixing with the magenta of Colette's, and the two of them took the sky in silent understanding of each other.

"I…don't want to die," Colette said. They had been lying on Zelos's bed, neither of them talking, but instead taking in the essence of each other. Colette's sudden words roused Zelos from his thoughts, and when he heard her voice, strong and confident once again, he smiled and nestled closer to her.

"I don't, either," he said, and he, too, was confident of his resolve.

Neither of them spoke for a long time, and Zelos was startled when Colette spoke again. "I don't want to be…left behind," she said, and she sounded much less sure of herself. Worried that she was conflicted yet again, Zelos pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked at her. Her eyes were closed, and she wore a thoughtful frown, which Zelos found to look out of place on her. Her golden hair had become messy from lying down, and it encircled her head like a halo. Zelos found the resemblance to be a bitter irony.

Suddenly, Colette's eyes snapped open, and she looked directly at Zelos. "But…" she said, chewing her lip a little, "I don't want to leave anyone behind, either. And besides…I won't be left behind, even in the end, will I?"

Zelos was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I'll…I'll always have you and Lloyd. We'll be together, even after Genis and Raine die." Colette sat up and put her hands in Zelos's lap. "So I won't be left behind."

Zelos smiled softly. "That's right. We'll have each other, no matter how long we live."

"To live forever…" Colette mused. "That's a long time."

Zelos chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose it is."

"We'll get to see a lot of things."

The man nodded. "Maybe we'll have to save the world again, with just the three of us."

"Do you think so?" Colette asked, the barest hint of a smile gracing her features. "Do you think we'd be able to do it?"

"With our angelic strength and powers, I'm sure we could pull it off somehow," Zelos laughed. Colette joined in for a moment, and then she sighed.

"Thank you, Zelos," she said without pretense.

"Huh? What for?" He looked down at her, wondering why she had said that.

"For reminding me…why we need to stay," she said softly, and Zelos blinked.

"O-of course, Colette," he said, patting her head gently. "I know what it feels like…to feel like there's no purpose in living." She turned to face him and met his eyes. "And you guys saved me before…it's only right that I give back."

"…Thank you," Colette repeated, closing her eyes and lying down once again. Zelos followed her, wrapping a friendly arm around her and nestling his face against her hair. She didn't move or make a sound, and they stayed that way for a while. He was almost certain that the blonde had fallen asleep when she spoke up one last time. "Zelos…?"

"Yes, Colette?"

"Do you think…" she began, "do you think we could fly together again?"

Zelos smiled into her hair. "Of course, Colette."


End file.
